Mayor Gray adds more background checks

Mayor Vincent C. Gray has ordered additional background checks of political hires, called "excepted service" employees in District government, according to a news release issued by his office.

Gray's order Wednesday to vet current and future employees comes after revelations about the legal troubles of some of his hires rocked his administration.

According to the release, Cabinet-level appointments were scrubbed with "background checks into credit history, criminal offenses, driving and traffic records, bankruptcies, property ownership, liens and judgments. It also covered education, legal, and business affiliations."

The background checks were conducted by Gray's transition team and paid for with private contributions, according to the release.

"While a vetting process was implemented, it is clear that the approach was not thorough enough to address all relevant issues and questions for Excepted Service appointments," Gray said in the release.

"Moving forward, I want to make sure that we check and double-check all current and future Excepted Service appointees by also engaging our own Metropolitan Police Department."

"Moving forward, I want to make sure that we check and double-check all current and future Excepted Service appointees by also engaging our own Metropolitan Police Department."

Great statement! Now what exactly does that mean for the "current" Excepted Service appointees whose backgrounds have been found to be "sketchy" and failed to disclose such information prior to being hired?

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